oi.uchicago.edu ORIENTAL INSTITUTE COMMUNICATIONS, NO. 9 THE ORIENTAL INSTITUTE OF THE UNIVERSITY of CHICAGO NEW LIGHT FROM ARMAGEDDON Second Provisional Report (1927-29) on the Excavations at Megiddo in Palestine BY P. L. O. GUY WITH A CHAPTER ON AN INSCRIBED SCARABOID BY W. E. STAPLES THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS CHICAGO, ILLINOIS oi.uchicago.edu ORIENTAL INSTITUTE COMMUNICATIONS Edited by JAMES HENRY BREASTED oi.uchicago.edu oi.uchicago.edu NEW LIGHT FROM ARMAGEDDON Second Provisional Report {1927-29) on the Excavations at Megiddo in Palestine oi.uchicago.edu GENERAL VIEW OF MEGIDDO FROM NORTHWEST The city gate lies at the lowest point on the near edge of the tell. The rubbish heaps seen above it, from Schumacher's excava­ tions, have.now been removed. To the left is the north terrace, with the Expedition house. oi.uchicago.edu ORIENTAL INSTITUTE COMMUNICATIONS, NO. 9 NEW LIGHT FROM ARMAGEDDON Second Provisional Report {1927-29) on the Excavations at Megiddo in Palestine BY P. L. O. GUY WITH A CHAPTER ON AN INSCRIBED SCARABOID BY W. E. STAPLES Internet publication of this work was made possible with the generous support of Misty and Lewis Gruber THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS CHICAGO, ILLINOIS oi.uchicago.edu COPYRIGHT 1931 BY THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PUBLISHED MARCH 1931 COMPOSED AND PRINTED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, U.S.A. oi.uchicago.edu STAFF OF THE MEGIDDO EXPEDITION AFTER MAY 1, 1927 Edward L. DeLoach, Surveyor, September, 1925—March 10, 1930 William Effendi Gad, Assistant Surveyor, September, 1925—May 13, 1927 Labib Effendi Sorial, Assistant Surveyor, September, 1925—May 13, 1927 0. E. Lind, Photographer, August, 1926— Miss Ruby Woodley, Recorder, August 31, 1926—August 13, 1928 Hassan Effendi Hassan, Draftsman, April, 1927—October 5, 1927 Clarence S. Fisher, Advisory Director, May 1, 1927— P. L. 0. Guy, Field Director, May 1, 1927— R. B. Parker, Superintendent, June 23, 1927— G. M. Shipton, Draftsman, March 1, 1928— Charles Little, Draftsman, April 17, 1928—July 31, 1928 E. Wilensky, Surveyor, April 23, 1928—June 5, 1928 J. Terentieff, Surveyor, June 3, 1928—September 28, 1928 W. E. Staples, Epigrapher and Recorder, September 26, 1928— R. S. Lamon, Surveyor, September 26, 1928— Charles Kent, Draftsman, March 1, 1929—June 30, 1929 R. W. Hamilton, Volunteer, June 24, 1929—July 10, 1929 L. C. Woolman, Architect, September 17, 1929^- vii oi.uchicago.edu oi.uchicago.edu TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE I. INTRODUCTION. P. L. 0. Guy 1 II. EXCAVATIONS AT MEGIDDO (SPRING, 1927—AUTUMN, 1929). P. L.O.Guy 9 III. AN INSCRIBED SCARABOID FROM MEGIDDO. W. E. Staples . 49 oi.uchicago.edu Sans doute les raisons scientifiques de pre*ferer un t&noinage a un autre sont parfois tres fortes. Elles ne le sont jamais assez pour Pemporter sur nos passions, nos pr6jug£s, nos int6r§ts, ni pour vaincre cette l^gerete* d'esprit commune a tous les hommes graves. En sorte que nous pr&entons constam- ment les faits d'une manure inte>essee ou frivole. —ANATOLE FRANCE oi.uchicago.edu I INTRODUCTION BY P. L. 0. GUY The geographical position of the Holy Land needs only the briefest mention here, for it has many times been pointed out that the country is so placed as to receive cultural influences from all sides: from Egypt, from the desert, from Iraq, from Anatolia, and, by sea, from the West. FIG. 1.—Outline map of the Near East, showing sites at which expeditions of the Oriental Institute are at work. At Abydos the Egypt Exploration Society and the Oriental Institute are co-operating in a joint project. This will be evident from the map (Fig. 1), which has been prepared essentially to indicate the points at which expeditions of the Oriental Institute are at work upon a co-ordinated program of research. Figure 2 represents the northern part of Palestine, in which the Plain of Esdraelon is a prominent feature. It is bounded on the west and south by the Carmel Ridge, on the north Nazareth looks down upon it from the hills of Lower Galilee, and on the east Mount Gilboa is separated from Little Hermon by the valley of Jezreel. Tabor rises in the northeast corner. 1 oi.uchicago.edu J--I.C*««I I^J^Kj, ^^J-Z/J^^. 1 ojryjMJftjT j .' ^ ANCIENT SITES :- 0 •fe- N if *r*^. Dmsertmd or Near y so - A fit Jfjfefc r*ouwTj\Jr*ia w-y^pl Still occuoitct- m J ( 0 "l ' jggHE^ '** W \ P t ROABS - 3mr - t/j»pcH CXA.I_/JL-B:E7 *p } f k HA1N ROADS THRU ucn IS MECIDDO - — 1 / r'jl a) lvA SCALES : / i •jtlSr m | *•1 (Jh/? -I-fll-EIS- i , ? 1 2 1 • 5 g 7 * t 3fe."--. /. l^r*% A X i ^ • -' u*$J MAY i J e •&< ME DITER RA ME A N V WK[~ / • > T"\^-«r^w 'J^~\ SEA F II ^P jl'^ I l m^ #3 3 - \\»\iV™ < 1 V J i ^mB • y ! 1 ^^2.^7 r **m-<2^ >wt i i il \ 'iC \at-t*. fj^KV '/**<^;-./ -'#^^fc M/A1An|' .• • J / r^ !f ~X^fXT *> ^ Vf V\ =c*^ V /— * I / 11i x~—N71 : %Osr"'^ - /| j^^^XJ^S,, rW^M /< 1 3«^ 'iirn V>ra-^ ,KXT^'"!,U •^•lito/^ *£c(^ ELS ^ FIG. 2.—Map of the Plain of Esdraelon and its surroundings, showing communications and river systems oi.uchicago.edu INTRODUCTION 3 Most of the surrounding hills are composed of porous limestone. The rain which falls upon them is partly carried to the plain as surface drainage, but much of it soaks into the rock and emerges in perennial springs which occur all along the foothills. Such water as reaches the middle of the plain is carried toward the Mediterranean by the FIG. 3.—Lower Paleolithic flints from the Plain of Esdraelon: left and center, from near Megiddo; right, from near Taanach. Scale, 1:3. Kishon, a sluggish stream at the best, dry through much of its course in summer. Traces of very early man have been found in the Esdraelon region.1 We ourselves have collected specimens of the implements which he left behind him. The two shown at left in Figure 3 were picked up about half a mile east of Megiddo. They are typical of the Lower Paleolithic in Palestine and, if found in Europe, would be described as Acheulean. That on the right in the same figure, found near Taanach, is also Lower Paleolithic, but slightly later in date. The Megiddo 1 See Leo Picard, "Zur Geologie der Kischon-Ebene," Zeitschrifl des Deutschen Paldstina-Vereins, LI (1928), esp. pp. 66-72, and for adjoining territory his "Zur Geologie der Besan-Ebene," ibid., LII (1929), esp. pp. 87-90. oi.uchicago.edu 4 THE ORIENTAL INSTITUTE implements in particular are of the type usually found in open-air settlements and are to be associated with a temperate climate when man, a hunter, was able to live out of doors. As the climate became colder and wetter, at a time of intense glaciation in Europe, he betook himself to caves for shelter. Many such caves are known in Palestine, and a few have been excavated. For example, Miss Dorothy A. E. Garrod, working for the British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem, found at Mugharet el-Wad, less than nine miles from Megiddo, defi­ nite evidence of occupation right through Middle and Upper Paleo­ lithic times to the period of transition from the Old Stone Age to the New, and even beyond it.1 The New Stone or Neolithic age is, of course, marked by two important features: the chipping of flint implements is sometimes supplemented by polishing, and hunting first begins to be replaced by agriculture. The caves in which man had hitherto been living were, for the most part, in the rocky hill country where little grain could be grown, partly through lack of soil and partly through lack of water. These two essentials were to be found at the edge of the plain; and, when the climate became more temperate, it was to this zone that man resorted when he first became a farmer. The springs to which reference was lately made occur very frequently at the foot of the Carmel Ridge, which extends along the west and southwest sides of Esdraelon; and at almost every important one there lies an ancient mound. Jenin, Taanach, Megiddo; Abu Shusheh, cAin Abu Zereik, Keimun—at each of these there is a tell beside a spring (Fig. 2). At Megiddo, at least, we know that man's occupation goes back to the Neolithic age; for polished flints characteristic of that age have been found in the lowest stratum and upon the slopes below the tell. It is probable that the same is true at other sites also. What is certain­ ly to be remarked is that practically all of these ancient towns are now deserted, and I have tried to find a reasonable explanation of this fact. Irrigation, commonly used both in Egypt and in Mesopotamia from time immemorial, was probably learned at an early date in Palestine and practiced at the settlements on Esdraelon. Below all the Esdrae­ lon springs there is flattish ground which lends itself to this method of 1 Palestine Exploration Fund, Quarterly Statement, 1929, pp. 220-22, and Man, Vol. XXX (1930), No. 63. oi.uchicago.edu INTRODUCTION 5 cultivation. So long as the water from the springs was used for irriga­ tion, this flattish ground would remain comparatively dry; but as soon as the canals were neglected—because of war, for example— swamps would form at the very gates of the towns, and, if infected Anopheles mosquitoes were present, malaria would quickly cause the population to die out or to depart.